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A newly declassified CIA memo from the 1980s discusses how "US interests [in Syria] would be best served by a Sunni regime controlled by business-oriented 'moderates'" Matthew Allen     It was part of the plan It's public knowledge that Washington has been plotting against Syria  since the days of Eisenhower. But thanks to  a newly declassified CIA memo , we can now read Washington's heavily-redacted strategy for creating "favorable conditions" in Syria. Even back in the 1980s, it was clear that provoking a Sunni insurgency fueled by ethnic and religious hatred was the easiest way to topple the government. As the memo  notes : Sunnis make up 60 percent of the Syrian officer corps but are concentrated in junior officer ranks; enlisted men are predominantly Sunni conscripts.  We believe that a renewal of communal violence between Alawis and Sunnis could inspire Sunnis in the military to turn against the regime. The ultimate goal? Creating a ...

Playboy, the men’s magazine, announced in October 2015 that it would stop publishing images of naked women, seeking to attract more advertisers and secure better placement on newsstands. MANDEL NGAN / AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES By SYDNEY EMBER Playboy is returning to the bare essentials. A year after the famed but struggling men’s magazine stopped featuring photographs of naked women, it has apparently had a change of heart. From now on, women will shed much of the scanty clothing that had been covering them up. The next issue, which hits newsstands at the end of the month, will feature women who are topless and almost fully exposed. (Think strategically placed leaf, hand or leg.) Cooper Hefner, a son of the Playboy founder  Hugh Hefner , signaled the change in a  Twitter post  on Monday : “I’ll be the first to admit that the way in which the magazine portrayed nudity was dated, but removing it entirely was a mistake,” he said in a quotation supe...